Over the course of many decades, peace groups have been branded terrorists by governments including my own. While I do not know of exact evidence, throughout my life, I have heard that government spies infiltrated groups like the American Friends Service Committee and other Quaker organizations in order to monitor their activities. Some of the stories even suggest that these government infiltrators have pushed peace groups to violence in order to validate later anti-activist governmental action.

While in Ramallah, Palestine, I spent some time with a friend of mine from Earlham College. She had grown up in Palestine, attended the Ramallah Friends School and graduated from Earlham the previous year. My friend and I met each other through mutual friends while singing in the college gospel choir. When I came the West Bank we planned to meet up. At the time of our preliminary planning I didn’t realize what our visit would mean… to either of us.

Imagine ghost town. Set in the old Western style with tumbleweeds spinning down the street, two men step out into the empty road. Pistols are drawn. The shadows hold their breaths. Freeze. Replace the western façade with stone; the windows are welded shut instead of boarded up. Tumbleweeds morph into black plastic bags and Coca Cola bottles. The two men hold machine guns and dress in military attire. They point their weapons, not at each other, but instead at the shadows.

I had come back to Janin after my class had visited atheatre which was located in the refugee camp. The people and history of the theatre had grabbed my attention and an invitation to the world première of Alice and Wonderland (Palestinian style) had sealed the deal of my return. Now, almost two weeks later, I was back. I was alone and I had no idea how to find the theatre.

We toured around Nazareth in the morning. I'm looking forward to spending more time in this beautiful little town. My father mentioned at one point that during his travels he visited here and schemed to climb Mt. Taber. On his way up he realized that he didn't have enough daylight to finish his trip and was invited into hospitality by a random resident of one of the nearby villages. I'm hoping that when I come back up here, I can have my own attempt at the mountain... though light fades quickly in this winter season.

You have to be kidding. The sign reads "This Jeleveh vehicle crossing enhancement was funded by the American people through the US Agency for International Development to foster greater trade and economic development of this area."

Once we made it through the check point it was time to head up to Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is beautiful. We got to see many of the religious sites and even take a boat ride. If the boat hadn't raised the American flag and played the American National Anthem in our honor (everyone on board was American) and if the boat hadn't played cheezy praise music by Elvis... the ride would have been perfect.

We traveled up to the mountain where Abraham was saved from sacrificing Issac. Living near by is a Palestinian Jewish community of around 750 who are decedents of the Samaritans. Jews, who have always seen the mountain as scared instead of the temple in Jerusalem, live in this small community and practice sacrificial rituals unknown to the rest of the world. I found it amazing to find a group of people who preserved not only rituals but also an ancient language.

The road we took was narrow and most of it did not have sidebars to stop vehicles from tumbling to the crevasse below. At some points the road was not wide enough to allow two vehicles; most of time the curves were blind. This road, as of August 2011, will be the only road that Palestinians are allowed to drive on from Ramallah to Jericho. The route takes about an hour and is very dangerous. The original road, a route that takes less than 20 minutes, connects a series of Israeli settlement throughout the West Bank and will be closed for exclusive Israeli travel. In addition, all Bedouin communities camped within 1/2 mile of the Israeli road will be force to move by August.

"It has fallen to us to defend Jerusalem, and we have made our preparations as well as they can be made. None of us took this city from Muslims. No Muslim of the great army now coming against us was born when this city was lost. We fight over an offence we did not give against those who were not alive to be offended. What is Jerusalem? Your holy places lie over the Jewish temple that the Romans pulled down. The Muslims places of worship lie over yours. Which is holy? The Wall? The Mosque? The Sepulcher? Who has claim? No one has claim.

When I was sixteen, my cousin gave me a book which was a step by step guide to nature awareness. The Kamana curriculum required in depth research of one's habitat. As a student of the nature awareness program, developed by John Young, you would have to research the history of the land, where the natural resources were, how natural migrations of wildlife interacted with the land...

After our lunch meeting we took a small hike up to the Church of the Visitation and then headed over to the Holocaust Museum. The Museum was not unlike the Holocaust The Museum was not unlike the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. but seeing its contents in context with what we are studying suggested many parallels that I do not feel comfortable articulating in this medium. This day left me emotionally exhausted and concerned for the future of these people and this land.

We had the pleasure of meeting with the CPT members who are present in Hebron, seeing their space and hearing a bit about their experiences. Being in Hebron was a powerful experience for me. I was able to see the plague in the CPT office that honor’s Tom. I hope someday I can return and spend time with the children of Hebron… just like he did, many years ago.

Speaking with Mr. Geldman was challenging. He had sterotypes of us, outsiders wanting to listen to his story, and we had stereotypes of him, a settler within the Palestinian borders. We asked him why he had chosen to live here in the settlement and not in another place in Israel. He and his family moved to that particular area (outside of Bethlehem) because it was affordable, close to family, and they had the opportunity to design their own house. He considered all of the West Bank part of Israel and said that legally, all the land is “up for grabs” and the “borders are artificial.”

We had lunch in Manger Square and got to visit parts of the Church of the Nativity. There were many people there (it’s getting close to Orthodox Christmas) so we weren’t able to see everything. Still, the church is beautiful and it was nice to see where Jerome and Paula worked. We also got to visit the Shepherd’s fields later in the afternoon where supposedly the shepherd’s say the angel and the star that led them to where Jesus was born.

The morning is beautiful here. I haven’t be up for the sunrise in a long time. The air smells fresh and the sound of the morning birds cooing was beautiful. Taking a shower this morning was cleansing -- a baptism of sorts into the work of this adventure.We met with two groups today: two programs of the World Council of Churches in the morning and Rabbis for Human Rights in the afternoon. By the time we finished at 3:00pm, all of us were ready for bed. Jet lag of this caliber is really kicking my butt!

When Jesus descended down the path from the Mount of Olives, his followers began to shout and sing. Some of the Jewish leaders and Roman officials asked Jesus to make the crowds stop: "Teacher, order your disciples to stop!" Jesus answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would shout out" (paraphrase of Luke 18:37-40) We made it to Israel after a 14 hour flight. Everything went well and my own casualty is that I left my journal on the plane. Perhaps this is the universe speaking to me in metaphors, that all the many worries I have in my head are silly compared to the grander scheme of things. Whoever finds that journal, may they not be appalled by the chaos of my mind.